By: Tim Ross

Tim Ross — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 11:00:40 +0000

Claire,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
I am an Architect working with our PM/CM team on the expansion of Riyadh Airport where we do have aspirations to obtain a LEED Silver rating.
I, like you, am deeply concerned with our (the world’s) behavior. Saudi Arabia exhibits all that is bad with our current behavior, rampant consumerism and consequential waste and an apparent blindness to the consequences. I should say that Saudi is not alone in the Middle East although much improvement has been made in the UAE in the last few years. What do I witness ……..Watering sand outside the front door to keep down the dust, leaving vehicle engines running when stationary no matter what time of year, disposing of construction waste in the street, disposing of the waste from your car in the street, several plastic bags for your groceries where one will do, excessive amounts of packaging material, freezing cold malls, the lights left on, the A/C left on……….. I could go on and on. Fuel prices were recently raised by 60% but costs still remain at a level where the population doesn’t think about the financial cost of consumption never mind the physical cost. A litre of petrol is still only the equivalent of 15 pence sterling, it’s cheaper than bottled water. But I think the fundamental issue runs deeper than that, we seem to be suffering from intellectual poverty, a complete lack of awareness that we just cannot continue to consume at the rates we are. Bahrain has recently announced increases in costs for water and electricity. I ran a calculation where I applied the intended rates for 2019 to my August bill for 2015 (hot month) and found that in 2019 I would be paying 10 times more for my water and electricity across the board (water will actually be 30 times more expensive) and whilst this will help I fear that in this part of the world the consequence will simply be mitigated by increases in salaries. With the exception of the material released by Dubai Water and Electricity Company I do not see a significant effort on the part of Governments to educate, even if they claim that they are doing so.
For now I feel like the pebble in the pond, so long as I keep talking to colleagues and friends the ripples in the pond will spread out, but I wonder if it is too little too late. I would love us in ArchTam to get awareness about consumerism onto the agenda in the way that we have safety.
With best regards,
Tim Ross

By: Stephen Gazillo

Stephen Gazillo — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 19:50:25 +0000

Hi Claire – thanks for posting this. I would like to have a dialogue about how to incorporate resilience planning more fully into our transportation planning projects, since it’s at the front end when decisions are made about where, what and how projects are being built. Perhaps we can set up a brief conference call with some of my planning team when you might have the time.

Comments on: #WomenExcel: Working toward a more sustainable future

By: Tim Ross

By: Stephen Gazillo